Christmas Snowstorm Summary

Contact: Abby Moran - abell@cloverland.com (906) 440-0609

Christmas 2022 will be extra memorable due to Winter Storm Elliott that covered a large portion of the United States. For Cloverland Electric's Eastern Upper Peninsula service territory, the storm system brought high winds and heavy snowfall particularly in the DeTour and Drummond Island areas. Heavy snow weighing down trees on power lines caused outages starting early Friday morning which peaked at 2,300 meters offline Saturday morning. Thanks to diligent work by Cloverland crews, all accessible outage locations were restored by 9:30 PM on Christmas Day.  Cumulatively, crews restored over 9,000 outages caused by Winter Storm Elliott.

Approximately 500 members endured an overnight outage on Friday, but by Saturday evening, nearly all outages were restored. Outages continued to fluctuate on Christmas Day as heavy snows and wind persisted across Cloverland’s service territory. About 80 locations on Neebish Island were not accessible due to road conditions - crews will resume restoration efforts when roads are safe to travel. A handful of seasonal locations on Drummond Island will remain off overnight Sunday, along with several seasonal locations on Les Cheneaux islands that were offline prior to the storm (which will be restored once ice forms and crews can access the islands).

Cloverland extends sincere thanks to its internal staff including dispatchers and field crews who worked long days to restore outages over the holiday weekend. The cooperative also thanks local law enforcement, 911 dispatchers, first responders and county and city road commissions for their diligent work keeping our local communities as safe as possible during Winter Storm Elliott.

Cloverland Electric reminds its members to stay clear of any downed lines and report them (800-562-4953) or 911. The cooperative also encourages its members to stay tuned to its outage and safety center for tips before, during and after a power outage situation. View outage map here.